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ONTARIO – Bucyrus resident Matt Dawson was amazed at how quickly his friend was able to quit smoking cigarettes.

Dawson said the woman tried smoking vaping liquids in an atomizer and has not smoked a regular cigarette since.

“I was so impressed, I decided to try it,” said Dawson, who had quit smoking for several years but picked up the bad habit again during a stressful time in his life.

Dawson went even further and opened a business, Puckerfish Vape, with his son, 2012 Bucyrus High School graduate Gabe Dawson, and Barna Kasa and Derrick Pifer.

Vaping liquids are either USP food-grade propylene glycol or vegetable glycerin, mixed with small amounts of nicotine and food flavorings. The liquid is vaporized in a battery-powered atomizer that looks much like a long, fancy cigar.

“One simply inhales the vapor, exhales and experiences a very similar sensation to smoking, without inhaling the harmful carcinogens associated with cigarettes,” Dawson said.

The FDA says there is little to no data on how harmful vaping may prove to be, and the government is considering classing the e-cigarettes as tobacco products.

According to an article in USA Today in April, three years after saying it would regulate e-cigarettes, the Food and Drug Administration is moving to control not only these battery-powered devices, but also cigars, pipe tobacco, hookahs (water pipes) and dissolvable tobacco products. The FDA regulates cigarettes, roll-your-own tobacco and smokeless products, such as snuff.

“Making the switch to vaping was a no-brainer for me, especially after I looked into what goes in it. In my opinion, these are far more effective as serving as a replacement to traditional cigarettes, as opposed to the electronic cigarettes one typically finds in convenience stores,” Dawson said.

Puckerfish Vape sells battery pens and tanks that hold the flavored liquid nicotine. Customers also can choose to vape without any nicotine and simply enjoy the flavor of their choice.

“Out of curiosity, I began creating my own flavors and developed a process that makes mixing flavors consistent in taste and efficient to do,” Dawson said. “Puckerfish is an e-juice microbrewery that allows us to give our customers the flexibility to design their own flavors.”

Dawson said his store features kiosks along with the ‘Flavor Making Wizard’ on its website, so customers can choose which flavorings, and how much of them, they want in their e-juice.

“The customer also decides how much nicotine they want, or none at all. Many people continue to reduce the amount of nicotine until there is none. With vape, you are not getting the tar and other harmful chemicals, but it has the same throat hit that smokers are used to,” Dawson said.

Customer Bradi Robertson received her bottle of 50 percent watermelon, 50 percent honeydew flavored e-juice and took a puff, sending a cloud of mist curling upward.

“I think what they do is great,” Robertson said. “This is the second bottle I’ve purchased from them, and each time the flavor came out exactly as I envisioned. Maybe better.”

“We don’t use any food colorings or artificial sweeteners. In some cases, we take it a step further than just using great base ingredients. For our coffee flavor, for example, we actually steep with fresh coffee grounds,” Pifer said.

Dawson said they also are working to get their pre-bottled juices sold at stores nationwide.

“We make a fine product. For most e-juice in this class, it’s usually more expensive. We also welcome anyone of age to come in the store and see what we do,” Dawson said. No one younger than 18 is permitted to enter the store without a parent or guardian.

Puckerfish Vape is at 1621 W. Fourth St., Ontario, and is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.